Definition of "usage" []

• The act, manner, or amount of using; use: the usage of a technical term; an instrument that measures water usage. (noun)
• The act or manner of treating; treatment: subjected the car to rough usage. (noun)
• A usual, habitual, or accepted practice. See Synonyms at habit. (noun)
• The way in which words or phrases are actually used, spoken, or written in a speech community. (noun)
• A particular expression in speech or writing: a nonce usage. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The only way it at all bothers me in usage is when it is overused or redundant, as in, “These ONES are the shoes I want.”"
• "The most common complaint about the European model of train usage is that it is skewed towards passenger travel."
• "This one over here is a word usage filter: a sort of advanced search engine, with a whole host of search parameters."